Suissa Computers: Powerful, Beautiful and (sort of) Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.29.06
For some, computers are utilitarian beige boxes. Others love the elegant but hermetically sealed apple approach. Still others treat their computers like people used to treat cars- something to play with, to mod, to build to your own tastes and specifications. Howard Suissa thinks that computers belong in your living room, and that they should look like they belong there. “While technology and design have advanced in leaps and bounds, the artistic cultural reflection found in computer case design has stagnated,” says the Thornhill, Ontario based designer. “Most design discussion on computers is either on the disappearance of technology, or is a visual grappling with a technology one no longer understands.....With the integration of computers into our living environment, people are craving something more human,” says Suissa. “They relate to natural materials more readily than to the cold sterility of plastic or metal.” Out of offcuts from his other work, he built "Fire@Will"-. “Our production process is clean, and we recycle all our wood and metal waste,” says Suissa. “Wood waste is used as mulch in the garden or is used in other projects.” and what a computer it is...
Howard says "A Suissa Computer is meant to become an heirloom and the system can be upgraded when technology changes. The computer will not have to be thrown away in exchange for improved technology." But he does not kid around with what he puts in for the present- opened up, it had the prettiest guts we have ever seen on a computer- six hard drives, water cooling, the power supply has been freaking chromed.. Published spec's:
SLI ready Socket AM2 motherboard with built-in wireless
· NVIDIA GeForce 7900 or 7950 video card
· 2 GB DDR2 PC6400 800MHz memory
· AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ or 5000+ dual core processor
· Thermaltake Liquid Cooling System for CPU and video card
· 600 watt SLI ready power supply
But a liist of spec's does not explain how they are laid out for maximum visual impact.
We like the use of castoff wood to make this, but more important is the concept- that if we do everything on our computers from work to entertainment to communications, then it is an object of importance and should be one of beauty. It should not disappear but it should be worth looking at. Howard says ". “Someone who has a well defined style deserves a computer system that fits into the interior design, something a little more human. There has to be an alternative to the hermetically sealed, sterilized unit, or a computer that resembles an alien’s head, or has a tribal tattoo theme.” We can't top that. ::Suissa Computers found at ::IIDEX
other models include the YasukoMedia
the YukiMedia
and the JunnaMedia, although these boxes are not made from recycled materials.
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With a 600 watt power supply this baby really sucks the juice. That's big! And chroming produces some of the most environmentally nastiest waste there is.
Personally, I don't want a big, wierd looking computer that uses a lot of electricity and makes fan noise. I like the small, quiet, low wattage approach like in the Via computer mentioned recently, or the almost invisible Mac Mini. Or maybe a laptop.
I can see some people really liking this, though. It is quite odd and unusual.
So why would I want an Apple when I could have this?
Dad
too weird looking for me:
it only says 600-w ready, which means there is a lot of upgrade room left for hard-drives etc.
not that it uses 600W straight out of the box. also, the cooling is liquid, which means there is less noise than traditional fan-based cooling.